Upload a clean DOCX
Bring the manuscript text you actually want translated. Remove backmatter, ads, and signup pages unless you want them translated too.
Invite-only beta for author-led translation workflows
Project Arachne
Arachne helps authors turn a clean manuscript into a structured, reusable translation project: style sheet, glossary, voice profiles, canon facts, translation runs, final review, and memory for the next book.
Built for authors, not engineers
One careful path from manuscript to reviewed files.
Approve the style sheet
Arachne drafts a project style sheet, glossary, voice profiles, canon facts, and a locked dossier before translation starts.
Use your own keys
OpenAI and Anthropic keys are pasted per job. They are sent only to that worker process and are not saved to your account.
Review the final choices
Translation runs continue on the Project Arachne server. When the work is done, you preview and download the selected final markdown.
Language defaults matter
Arachne does not treat every language like English with different words.
Spanish is aimed at broadly readable Latin American Spanish, with a Mexican-friendly center of gravity.
Arabic uses generalized Modern Standard Arabic and preserves right-to-left script behavior.
Every language gets its own handling for script, punctuation, formality, and reader expectations, from right-to-left Arabic and Hebrew to CJK layout, Romance-language register, and Brazilian Portuguese market norms.
Idioms, voice, and continuity
The point is not word-by-word translation. The point is carried meaning.
Arachne builds a project style sheet before translation so jokes, insults, endearments, recurring phrases, heat level, and character voice have context.
When an idiom does not survive literally, Arachne can look for the target-language move that carries the same emotional and narrative job.
Approved glossary, voice, canon, and translation lessons can be reused for later books in the same series or shared universe.
Current beta shape
Subscriber and friend beta first.
Project Arachne is not public self-serve software yet. Early testers should start with one representative chunk in one language, check provider costs, then scale up once they know what their book needs.
What testers need to know before they touch the app.
Bring the right file
Use a DOCX that contains only the manuscript text you want translated. Remove backmatter, ads, signup copy, and unrelated bonus material unless those should be translated too.
Use your own provider keys
Arachne asks for OpenAI and Anthropic keys only when launching a live job. Keys are job-scoped and are not saved in project history.
Start with a test chunk
Run one representative chunk first to estimate cost, inspect voice, and make sure the book's style sheet is doing what the author expects.
Queue, then come back
Once a translation job starts, it keeps running on the Project Arachne server. Closing the laptop does not stop the job. Revoking the provider key is the emergency brake.
Want in later?
Join the Project Arachne waitlist.
Tell us what you write and what languages you care about. We will use this to plan beta waves and future paid access.